Unnecesary refuelling
by Kiriahtan0
Summary: "Doctor? Why did we stop here?", "Oh, Donna, it's like refuelling", "But the TARDIS doesn't need refuelling...", "Exactly, innecesary!"


This is a traslation of "Repostaje Innecesario" by Kiriahtan, from spanish. You can read the original here fanfiction s / 743 8 531 / 1 / Repostaje-innecesario

Speacial thanks to K, my english beta on this work.

Enjoy!

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**Unnecesary refuelling**

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The Doctor opened the door of the TARDIS. Behind him, Donna came closer to the entrance, trying to get the first glimpse of the new surprising scenery about to appear. Because when the Doctor opened the door of the TARDIS, wherever it was, it would be surprising and wonderful.

"... What?" the word escaped her stunned mouth before she could stop it. She didn't get it.

In front of them there was only Space. The TARDIS floated around nowhere, amidst the silence of the Universe. Not even a star shining nearby.  
"Where are we?" she wanted to know. "And why?" she looked at the Doctor. If they had stopped in the middle of the nowhere, there had to be a reason. The Doctor never did anything lightly.

"Shhh" he indicated.

And Donna moved aside, letting go of the Doctor's back and coming to the center of the ship, near to the console. She made an effort to be quiet -she really tried-, but curiosity and confusion got the better of her.

"Doctor?" she called to him.

But he was still motionless by the door. He had one hand on its frame, just looking outside. It didn't seem like he was moving or looking at her any time soon.

Where were they? And why? Donna moved again, unable to just stand still. Something about this piece of empty Space was making her feel uncomfortable, troubled... And she didn't know why. And the Doctor was still unresponsive.

She approached again from one side, leaning on the wall. From there, she could spy the Doctor's face. He seemed... . Like he was watching... what? Donna tried to remember if she had ever seen such a look before. Maybe at the funeral of some extremely sick friend... She wasn't sure. No expression she had ever seen before, human or alien, could equal the pain in his eyes, or in his pursed lips.

Should she say something? She wasn't sure.

She moved away from him. For some reason, she felt like she was watching something she shouldn't, a private moment for the Doctor. So she went to the console of the TARDIS, watching the buttons. Where were they? That doubt still gripped her, so she took the keyboard, trying to think clearly. She knew less than nothing about how the TARDIS worked but there should be a manual or something like that.

He didn't even notice and the Tardis kept floating in Space. A blue police box facing nothingness, drifting.

"Come on", said Donna. She wanted know, she felt she was close.

Then, the Doctor turned. Neither of them had realised how long they had been there, but as he turned, his lips smiled, even though his eyes still be absorbed.

"Well, where will we go now?" he asked with a loud clap, closing the door. He approached the console and started to turn it on. "We have much to see! Endless things."

Donna hurried to erase the image in the screen of the computer.

"Yes", she didn't know what to say. She supposed that this apparently happy reaction was internal mechanism... "By the way... why did we stop here, Doctor?" Her voice sounded hesitant for once, not demanding a reply with the usual emphasis of her curiosity.

"Eh? Ah! This stop. It's nothing. Not important. Like refuelling."

"But the TARDIS doesn't need refuelling..." she replied automatically.

"And that makes us really bad refuellers, don't you think?"

"I'm pretty sure that word doesn't even exist..."

"It does, on Nupria V. I know! Let's go there. I'll show you the floating beach and the purple waterfalls."

With his usual enthusiasm, he started moving levers and pushing buttomsspeaking non-stop about the wonders of that new planet. Donna would never understand the working of the TARDIS, but she believed that she was starting to get the Doctorand he was only pretending like nothing had happened. She would have liked to be able to do something, say something but... she was aware that it was impossible. It was beyond her, as much as wanted to help that lonely man.

She resumed watching the screen of the computer. It was now dark but she couldn't erase from her mind the name of the place they had just left, while they disappeared into another space and another time.

Gallifrey.


End file.
